ARLINGTON — Nobody in the neighborhood of small farms and rustic houses just west of I-5 will say they begrudge the success of Skookum Brewery.
What they dislike is all the traffic that the home-based business attracts down a narrow gravel road. The brewery opens for just seven hours a week, on Friday evenings and Saturday afternoons. That’s enough to draw a more than 100 cars some days, a claim the brewery’s owner doesn’t dispute.
“What started out as a friendly tasting room has turned into, from our perspective, basically a tavern at the end of a private, dirt road,” said David Parks, 36, who lives nearby. “This is not a neighbor-to-neighbor dispute, this is what we feel is a commercial (business) in a residential neighborhood.”
Skookum Brewery may not be breaking any laws. Still, the swarm of cars has worried neighbors. They say the vehicles pose a potential danger to children, bring strangers into their quiet community and stir up dust on the road.
And the microbrewery’s owner said he recognizes that his success is affecting the neighborhood, and is trying to move the tasting room to a commercial area. The neighbors’ complaints are hindering that effort, said Ronald Walcher, who owns Skookum Brewery with his wife, Jackie Jenkins.
“We do encourage people to carpool,” Walcher said. “We do encourage people to go slow.”
Last weekend, Parks and other neighbors collected 47 signatures on a petition asking county officials for help. They submitted the petition to the County Council on Wednesday morning, along with other evidence.
“They can brew beer; they just need to move the tasting room,” said Brian Vanwinkle, 52, one of eight neighbors who spoke at the meeting. “I applaud their success.”
Councilmen agreed the situation didn’t seem fair to the brewery’s neighbors.
They expected the issue to come up again if more microbreweries and boutique wineries open in the county. They promised to take a closer look at the county code covering “home occupation” — businesses that operate out of homes.
If they don’t, “we’re going to be back here again and again and again,” Councilman John Koster said.
Koster, whose district includes the Arlington area, has discussed the brewery issue with the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office and code officials.
Councilman Brian Sullivan, who used to operate his own brew pub in a commercial part of Mukilteo, agreed that it didn’t seem right to draw so much traffic to a residential area.
“I think it’s incumbent on somebody who operates a commercial business not to impact neighbors,” Sullivan said.
A similar issue arose in the city of Everett last year when a couple attempted to start a small winery in a residential neighborhood, generating complaints from neighbors about forklifts and the smell of grapes.
Skookum Brewery had its grand opening on March 31, 2007. Later that year, the county required Walcher and Jenkins to resolve building-code violations. Soon after, they were back in business.
County Fire Marshal Mike McCrary, who oversees code enforcement for the county’s Planning Development Services, said the brewery is operating within county guidelines for a “home occupation” business. The only problem they had was with some signs Walcher had put up along the side of the road.
The brewery has a valid liquor license that allows it to operate the tasting room, State Liquor Control Board spokesman Brian Smith said. The license comes up for renewal in September. At that point, county officials would be able to raise concerns about traffic, if they wished, Smith said.
Walcher, 45, said he has been brewing for more than a dozen years. He offers customers a selection of beers such as “Amber’s Hot Friend,” billed as a West Coast-style ale brewed with a “shapely malt body and enough hops to keep her feisty. Amber’s Hot Friend will never leave you with any bitter feelings.” The menu also includes a Russian imperial stout and various ales.
The business’s Web site encourages visitors to be courteous to neighbors and to obey the 10 mph speed limit on the gravel road. The brewery is allowed to have up to 11 people in the tasting room at any time, but more can be elsewhere on the property.
When contacted for comment, Walcher said he has been looking for a new space for the tasting room. The neighbors’ complaints have hampered that effort, he said, because he has spent so much time defending himself.
“It’s very frustrating,” he said. “We’ve done a lot of things to try to move and get to another site. I just don’t think we can move fast enough for them.”
Parks said the issue has been more than two years in the making and this outcome is sad.
“At the end of the day, I’ve lost a friend over it,” Parks said. “I respect Ronald for the knowledge he has and the abilities he has.”
Noah Haglund: 425-339-3465, nhaglund@heraldnet.com.
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